Dark December: The Chasnala mine disaster

Three months and more than 300 deaths later, the people of Dhanbad stood with a deafening silence near the vicinity of the mine that had become a grave for the people working there. What had transpired on 27 of December, 1975 remained a big question for all. Dispirited yet hopeful the people believed that justice would be served to all. Do you think their belief triumphed?

The lake that sank and killed 375 miners at Chasnala; Image Credit: ENVIS center on the environmental problem of mining

One of the notorious industry's of all time is the coal mining industry. Since 1901 the Indian coal mining industry has witnessed approximately 59 disasters. Ironically, it was the year when the mine safety legislation had been enacted, yet accidents in mines caused 2200 fatalities. Statistics show, that from 1901–2013, a total of 277 such accidents have occurred killing approximately 3344 people. Although safety has improved in Indian coal mines after the nationalisation of the Coal Sector in India, the occurrences of such incidents are still an issue of concern. Approximately 7 accidents from 2000–2014 have claimed 144 human lives.

In the mid-1960s, the construction of a  deep shaft mine was started near Dhanbad. Developed with the horizon system of mining, it had two horizons. The first has located at 172 m below the surface and the second,291 m below the surface. There was a  waterlogged quarry, near the mine. To create a ventilator in the mine, an explosion was carried out on 27 December 1975. The trigger either by the explosion or years of shear and tear led to the collapse of an 80-feet wall of coal installed between an active and abandoned mine. The inundation resulted in the flooding of the mine with the water that was lodged in the abandoned mine. Consequently, 375 people including miners and staff were trapped inside the mine, which was owned by the Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCo). This was the Chasnala mining disaster.

Figures suggest that approximately 1,35,000 cubic metres of water rushed into the active mine with people stuck there having no ways to escape. One would think that suffering would have been kind to them as death came swiftly. However, it was not the case. Three months from the accident, when the rescue team could finally collect survivors, only their skeletons remained. The Centre on Environmental Problems of Mining published a paper stating that "The remains of some of the bodies could be identified by their cap-lamps, wearing apparel and/or by some materials like keys, knives, etc. However, most of them could not be identified because cap-lamps were not found attached to them."

Although the explosion was never confirmed, it bore an unnatural similarity to the Courrieres mine disaster in France in 1906, where 1099 men died. The Chasnala accident tragically was the second such mining disaster near Dhanbad, the first occurring in Dhori colliery in 1965, where 268 miners died.

An investigation by the Court of Inquiry put down the following causes for the accident: Incorrect survey plan, wrong placement of ventilation connection, violation of law by management and laxity of DGMS in granting permission

Even though an enquiry under the former Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, Ujjal Narayan Sinha submitted its report two years later, it was almost after 37 years that the case found some closure. Among the four people found guilty, two had already died by then and the remaining were imprisoned for a year in prison.

When a system encounters multiple failures, a disaster is bound to occur. A similar thing also happened in the Chasnalla mine disaster. Over the years, it has been observed through the analysis of this incident, that the causal factors typically deal with wrong survey plan, contravention of statutory permission conditions, wrong placement of ventilation connection, and contravention of safety laws/rules. The focus has primarily been on authority and delegation of responsibility, the process of granting various permissions, and the failure of enforcing such provisions when needed. Consequently, the investigation has to a greater degree inclined towards identifying people responsible for the infringements that led to the disaster, rather than finding a root cause that could have prevented this accident.

'This approach has proved to be grossly ineffective because of the fact that the system deficiencies still remain undetected during such investigations and the recommended actions may not suitably address the root causes'.

Therefore, if we are to prevent any other major mining accidents, we must change our methods of enquiry and deal with questions that might prove effective in managing future disasters.